


Redemption in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

by Dreamy Moon (IlargiZuri)



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 11:49:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19887205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IlargiZuri/pseuds/Dreamy%20Moon
Summary: This Essay was possible because of the wonderful and great Video on the YouTube-Channel "Hello Future Me" about Redemption Arcs. Go and watch it and leave a like, because it is a great Channel.https://youtu.be/TB_3LF7uoNc





	Redemption in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Many People don’t believe that Kylo Ren or Ben Solo can be redeemed after what happened in “The Last Jedi“ but that’s not true, in Fact we saw only one more step in his Redemption, his Change of his self-perception. Because like many other things in Storytelling Redemption is structured into three Parts and at least two Parts of that should Change in Order to Make a redemption believable.

When we met Kylo Ren for the First Time, he is already Part of the First Order and the Master of the Knights of Ren. He seems very Confident and, besides his animosity with General Hux, very satisfied with his Position in Life. That Changes when he learns about Rey and witnesses the destruction of the Hosnian System. But neither of these two Points are actually explained in “The Last Jedi“ so I won’t start to speculate why he reacts the way he does.

But we learn something about Kylo Ren in these two Films, which makes his Redemption arc most likely.

To understand WHAT we see, we have to understand the three Points of a Redemption. These Points are:

1\. What is at Stake? What could Kylo Ren gain or loose from his Actions?

2\. What is Kylo Ren’s perception of himself?

3\. How is his perception of the World?

There isn’t any doubts that Kylo Ren was manipulated by Snoke and possibly the Ghost of Palpatine. But in the End that was only the last Straw in his fall to the Dark Side. So what is at stake for him? He actually said it himself in “The Force Awakens“ he Wants to end what his Grandfather started, although his understanding of what that is, is corrupted by Snokes perception of the Events on the second Death Star, but that’s what is at Stake for Kylo Ren. The Redemption of his Grandfather and the End of the War, which actually never ended since Darth Vader and Darth Siddious started it.

Kylo Ren is actually the living Proof that this War never ended. Neither for his Parents, nor for the People of the First Order.

To understand this, you have to understand how his Perception of himself changed through his interactions with Rey.

Kylo Ren grew up as the Son of Leia Organa and Han Solo, two war Heroes. He didn’t know that Darth Vader was his Grandfather. But his Parents knew and unfortunately that had a very big Impact on their behavior towards their Son. They neglected him and left him with Nannies and Droids. I think that came unintentionally from some Kind of PTSD, both Han and Leia suffered under Vaders Torture and unknowingly they compared Darth Vader with their Son. And think of it, they compared a Child, their Child, with a War criminal he never met and who committed his Crimes when he was an adult. Furthermore, neither Han, nor Leia knew how to live a peaceful Life. Leia was born when the Civil war started and Han grew up in the Underworld of the Galaxy, both lived a dangerous Life, and they never knew what it means to live during Peace. After the Battles between the Empire and the Rebels ended they just changed their Battlefields, Leia became a Senator and fought on the Battlefield of Politics and Han became a Racing Pilot and later a Business Man at the Edge of Legality. So neither of them adapted into a Peaceful Life, raising their Son and living happily ever after.

This behavior played into Snoke’s and Palpatine’s Hands, in seducing Kylo to the Dark Side. He already had not the best relationship with his Family because most of them saw him as some Kind of Monster or feared that he would become a Monster. In the End Luke’s attempted Murder was the last straw to separate Kylo from his Family. When Kylo learned about the Fact that Darth Vader was his Grandfather, most likely because he watched the News, all what he knew and never understood about his Parents behavior must have made sense.  
So long Story Short: Han and Leia are partially to blame for the Fact that their Son thinks he is a Monster. A Monster which isn’t worth of human Companionship, friendship or Love.  
So when Kylo Ren says to Han, that he wants to be Free of this Pain, he doesn’t mean physical Pain, he Means mental pain. He suffers from being the last Offspring of Anakin Skywalker and the responsibility that Comes with that. One way to Free himself from that Pain is actually to destroy the Legacy of his Family, Leia’s accomplishments in the Government and building the Resistance are Leia’s Legacy.

Han’s Legacy is actually surviving the War (actually every Kind of War he is involved) and father a Child. So by killing his Father he destroys a Part of Hans Legacy, the second One is his Son, which he thinks he already destroyed.

And last but not least Kylo Ren Wants to redeem his Grandfather from the ONE mistakes he thought he made, by saving his Son. He wants to correct the legacy of his Grandfather so that he can’t be blamed for that any longer.

And that’s what is at Stake for Kylo, his personal Freedom from the Legacy of his Family. That’s what he thinks he must accomplish to be Free and only himself.

So when we see him in “The Last Jedi“ talking with Rey via Forcebond, we learn that he thinks of himself as a Monster. That’s what he Starts to questioning, because of his interactions with Rey. She starts as aggressive and at the end she comes to him willingly and doesn’t try to kill him anymore. He starts to think that the Force must have a reason to connect them both and when we see how his behavior changes towards her, he starts to question if he is really unworthy of companionship.  
So for Kylo Ren the Structure for his Redemption is the following:

1\. He wants his Freedom from his Legacy, which is at stake by his Parents and Snoke.

2\. He perceives himself as a Monster which is unworthy of being loved and having relationships with others.

3\. He views the World as cruel and unforgiving.

So how can his redemption work and more importantly how does it work in the Movies already?

Well in Order for Make a great Redemption Arc one of the Points must come into Conflict with the other and that’s exactly what happens because of Rey, he questions his self-perception and it comes into conflict with his Goal, his Freedom from his Legacy. Because he sees himself as a result of this Legacy, his Parents thought of him as a Monster because of that Legacy, because of his Grandfather.

His realization that he is maybe not a Monster, is at the End of “The Last Jedi“ when the Forcebond opens again, and he and Rey share a last Moment together. Kylo realizes, that Snoke didn’t control everything and that Rey maybe really came because she didn’t see him as a Monster any longer.

The Problem with that perception of himself is: It depends on the opinions of other People and that’s why Rey had to leave Kylo, he must change his own perception without the opinion of others. That‘s the Step that will happen in “The Rise of Skywalker“ and it will come into Conflict of the Stakes because Kylo wants to be free from his Legacy, because the Legacy of his Family is the Reason why he thinks the World sees him as a Monster. Which is why he perceives himself as a Monster.

But if that View changes, and he realizes that he was wrong, and he is not a Monster, what does this mean about his Freedom? About the Legacy of his Family?

That’s the question which will be answered in the next Movie, and I am pretty sure that Kylo won’t die at the end of it. I think he will redeem his Family and himself from the Shadow of Darth Vader or will start with that Redemption. We won’t see a redemption like we saw with Anakin Skywalker, we will see Kylo moving on to create his own Legacy.

**Author's Note:**

> This Essay was possible because of the wonderful and great Video on the YouTube-Channel "Hello Future Me" about Redemption Arcs. Go and watch it and leave a like, because it is a great Channel.
> 
> https://youtu.be/TB_3LF7uoNc


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